‘Never kill your brothers or sell your friends” is the much-quoted personal motto of late supreme commander Gen Sunthorn Kongsompong who led the coup in February 1991 that ousted the Chatichai Choonhavan government on the grounds of excessive corruption.
With his straightforward manner, the general commanded wide respect across the barracks and he was quite a well-liked public figure before the military crackdown in May 1992 on street protesters that left scores dead.
These days, one general who is known to live by Gen Sunthorn’s motto is Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, whom many powerful top brass look upon as the “big brother” of the armed forces. Even Privy Council president Gen Prem Tinsulanonda is said to have shown confidence in Gen Prawit’s credentials.
Prawit: His 'brother's keeper'
According to political observers, Gen Prawit was a key figure in the formation of the government after last year’s coup led by then army commander Prayut Chan-o-cha. He is also expected to tackle any challenges facing the government to make sure its political roadmap stays on track.
One of Gen Prawit’s recent jobs was to intervene in a rift between former army chief and Deputy Defence Minister Udomdej Sitabutr and his successor Gen Theerachai Nakvanich who has revoked several of Gen Udomdej’s orders, including promotion of military personnel, after his rise to the army’s top job last month.
He has reportedly suggested to Gen Theerachai, whom he backed as the army commander in the annual reshuffle, that he keep his mouth shut, which seems to have quieted speculation about the pair’s disharmony.
One of Gen Prawit’s more pressing jobs is believed to be saving Gen Udomdej from disgrace in the wake of alleged irregularities involving the construction of Rajabhakti Park and its giant statues of the country’s great kings. The deputy defence minister is chairman of the Rajabhakti Park foundation responsible for fund-raising.
While Gen Udomdej himself is not facing direct accusations in connection with the scandal, his close aide, Col Khachachart Boondee of the 3rd Army region, has been implicated.
According to political sources, several military leaders and a group of Gen Prawit’s staff have been working around-the-clock to limit the damage from the Rajabhakti scandal.
Gen Theerachai’s Q&A session with the media on the army’s inquiry into the scandal, which took place yesterday, has turned out as widely expected. No irregularities have been found so far.
Gen Prawit is also said to be moving on to monitor the role of the media after some outlets were criticised for biased reporting and embellishing the facts.
“Some media outlets, whose owners allegedly got rich from stock speculation and are trying to buy shares to dominate the media industry, are being closely watched by Gen Prawit’s team,” said a source.
The defence minister has also expanded his work to the international arena to help stimulate the country’s economy, which is widely seen as a make-or-break effort by the Prayut government.
He has reached out to China for partnership in the country’s infrastructure projects and to Cambodia for the development of energy resources in overlapping maritime territories which have been stalled for several administrations.
Since his appointment to the National Council for Peace and Order and the government, Gen Prawit has so far delivered what is expected of him, according to the sources.
Approaching the bench
Krissada Boonrach became the all-powerful interior permanent secretary just last month, but there’s every chance he will not see out his days in the position with his retirement looming in two years’ time.
The Supreme Administrative Court’s judicial commission on Wednesday announced a list of 16 candidates qualified to take up five posts as judges of the court.
The five candidates who were rated the highest are expected to be declared as the new judges, if they pass background checks. Mr Krissada was ranked fourth on the list.
The next step will be for the National Legislative Assembly to vote to approve the list. After that, the NLA chairman will seek royal endorsement of the approved list.
Udomdej: Under a lot of stress
Mr Krissada earlier said he would carry on with his work as permanent secretary while waiting for an announcement. But should he pass the background check, he will think again about whether he is ready to become a judge.
Sources at the Interior Ministry say Mr Krissada is unhappy with the increasing demands of the permanent secretary’s job. They include tackling the persistent drought and handling land distribution for the landless poor, which requires collaboration with the Agriculture Ministry and the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.
Another tough task involves the Interior Ministry’s handling of the allocation of more than 36 billion baht from the reserve budget for the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years to more than 7,200 tambon.
Each tambon will get five million baht to implement any project related to building or repairs in the area, and development projects in line with the sufficiency economy.
Determined to prevent any corruption in the budget allocation, Mr Krissada impressed upon all provincial governors, kamnan and village heads of the need to ensure transparency in implementing projects. The Interior Ministry also has a major role to play in maintaining peace and order in all regions of the country.
The job has turned out to be taxing and he feels stressed out, according to a source close to Mr Krissada.
When the prospect of a job at the Supreme Administrative Court came his way, it was no surprise that he felt the urge to exit the Interior Ministry and set off for greener pastures, the source said.
Mr Krissada graduated from the political science faculty of Ramkhamhaeng University, entered the civil service, and moved through the ranks to become interior permanent secretary, the first graduate from Ramkhamhaeng to get to the top at the ministry.
Previous permanent secretaries for the interior were mostly graduates from the political science faculties of either Chulalongkorn or Thammasat Universities.
Among the favourites tipped to succeed Mr Krissada should he leave the ministry is Jarin Jakkaphak, director-general of the Local Administration Department.
Mr Jarin graduated from Class 30 of the political science faculty of Chulalongkorn University.
Seen as a combative-style local official, he previously served as governor of Chaiyaphum and Sakon Nakhon provinces as well as deputy permanent secretary for the interior. He will retire from the civil service in 2019.
Chatchai Phromlert, the director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, is also tipped for the top post, according to the source.
He was previously Lop Buri governor and is known for his coordinating skills. With his personable character, he is well-liked by his colleagues at the ministry, a source said.
Mr Chatchai graduated in Class 32 at the political science faculty of Chulalongkorn University. He will remain in the civil service until 2021 when he retires.
The source said Phanu Uthairat, secretary-general of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) under the Internal Security Operations Centre, also has a chance of being transferred to take the top post at the Interior Ministry.
The source said Mr Phanu is no stranger to the Interior Ministry as he worked at the SBPAC when it was under the Interior Ministry. It was transferred to the supervision of the prime minister and is now under the Isoc.
A political science graduate of Thammasat University, Mr Phanu is due for mandatory retirement in September next year.
Tainted by association
The past few months have not been kind to Gen Udomdej Sitabutr. The former army chief has found himself smack in the middle of an unholy political storm that has been slowly brewing over the Rajabhakti Park memorial to the great kings of Thailand.
Gen Udomdej retired only last month, yet he has had no time to catch his breath after a reported conflict with his successor, Gen Theerachai Nakvanich, and now his connection, however tenuous, to the allegations of irregularities in the one-billion-baht project to build Rajabhakti Park, adorned as it is with magnificent and towering — and expensive — statues of the country’s great kings.
Gen Udomdej, who has retained his seat on the National Council for Peace and Order and is concurrently deputy defence minister, initiated the project by setting up the Rajabhakti Park Foundation to manage the park, with donations from private businesses and the public to finance the project.
But as the days slip by, disquiet over the scandal of alleged kickbacks and collusion to instigate corruption grows louder.
Gen Udomdej earlier admitted that a well-known amulet trader had cited “people in authority” to demand commission fees from statue foundries. He then sent an army officer to the trader to ask him to return the money to the foundry owners.
Since Gen Udomdej is member of the NCPO, his link, real or perceived, to any alleged foul play in the project was bound to rattle the council and could have an impact on the government’s stability, according to a source.
The former army chief has asked Deputy Education Minister Gen Surachet Chaiwong, who chairs the sub-committee in charge of building Rajabhakti Park, to provide information to an army-appointed fact-finding panel looking into the controversy.
Gen Udomdej is defending himself and says he has fallen victim to a smear campaign. It was reported he had contemplated resigning as deputy defence minister when he went into retirement, and that he has never felt more strongly about bowing out of the ministerial post than now with the Rajabhakti scandal echoing in his ears.
But if he chooses to resign in the face of the allegations, it could effectively mean an acknowledgement of wrongdoing, although he had no involvement, according to another source.
Some observers believe a ministerial reshuffle is only a matter of time. Pressure for Gen Udomdej to exit the cabinet could mount to the point where he just might give in, regardless of the outcome of the fact-finding probe.
Sources close to Gen Udomdej say the retired general is under a lot of stress, although he does not show it. Last week, he left his office to pay respects to a sacred deity shrine in the premises of the Defence Ministry.
He spent many long minutes praying before the shrine before returning to the office, according to the sources.
Recently, as the park controversy was surfacing, Gen Udomdej went on television, accompanied by the Fine Arts Department’s director-general, to explain at length about the processes of the park’s construction. However, only one of the foundries commissioned to cast the statues showed up to be interviewed in the programme.
The sources said the programme was meant to inform everyone about the past and the purpose of the park. But digging into the sordid details is continuing, gradually increasing the likelihood of damage being done to the image of Gen Udomdej, and possibly that of the NCPO as well.